HYDERABAD: Justice K Laxman of the Telangana High Court on Friday stayed the FIR registered against Manthani MLA D Sridhar Babu. The FIR, registered under Section 123 of the Representation of Peoples Act, 171-G, and 505 IPC, pertains to an alleged derogatory video targeting BRS leader Putta Madhukar.
Counsel for the petitioner Tera Rajnikanth Reddy maintained that there was no concrete evidence to suggest that Sridhar Babu had used derogatory language against Madhukar. He said that the Manthani police had initiated the case against Sridhar based on the video allegedly portraying Madhukar as a murderer and an anarchist for political gains.
The counsel asserted that the offences mentioned in the FIR pertained to election-related matters, which are typically initiated after the filing of nomination papers. However, the FIR in this case was registered well before the nomination process began, he said and added that no supporting evidence was provided to substantiate the claim that Sridhar Babu had made the disparaging comments in the viral video. He contended that the police should have verified the authenticity of the video before registering the FIR against the Manthani MLA.
After thorough consideration of the arguments put forth, the court concluded that no criminal offense could be established.